After handling Zhang Mu and his cronies, Zhao Xian sent a guard to inform Xue Ya’er and asked her to help arrange the refugees waiting outside the town.

Half an hour later, Steward Han and a group of guards arrived at the town gate. Following their previous arrangement, they quickly recorded the refugees’ information and led them to Yao Zhi’s land.

As before, they gave the refugees clothes, shoes, and food. After eating, they were tasked with cultivating the land. Although plowing was harder than building the dormitory, no one complained.

With the matter of the refugees settled, Zhao Xian could now focus on pulling out the corruption poisoning Wei County’s government.

The news about Zhang Mu being removed from his official position and being taken away by the Ministry of Justice spread to other towns under Wei County’s jurisdiction in less than 3 days.

During this period, Zhao Xian was so busy that he barely slept more than 3 hours every day. Although it was tiring, his effort paid off.

On the day the Prefect of Bei Cheng Prefecture received the news, the evidence of Zhang Mu’s crimes had already been concluded.

Reading the report, Shu Yancheng let out a sigh.

Hearing this, his personal attendant asked, "My Lord, is there something weighing on your mind lately?"

Shaking his head, Shu Yancheng replied, "Zhao Xian is too young and impulsive. He wants to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. Although this method is not bad, he shouldn’t have touched Zhang Mu at this time."

"My Lord, are you worried that the people behind Zhang Mu will target Lord Zhao because of this matter?"

"Zhao Xian is a blade chosen by His Majesty. But this blade is not sharp enough and won’t be able to fight against the Empress Dowager’s faction. It seems that we still have to lend him a hand."

His personal attendant thought for a moment and asked, "My Lord, should I inform Lord Zhao about those people?"

Shu Yancheng thought for a while before he said, "No need to inform him." After a moment of pause, he added, "Inform General Lu about them instead."

Although his personal attendant didn’t know why his master wanted to inform Lu Qianxuan about the Empress Dowager’s people, he still nodded. "Understood."

Despite the tense political situation in Wei County, Yao Zhi knew nothing about it. After she visited Xue Ya’er a few days ago, she spent her time staying at home, helping Xi Yi prepare lunch or supervising the work.

According to their rough estimation, the progress of building the bathhouses, outhouses, and more rooms would take at least 2 months. But thanks to the people she bought, the Ling Squad, and the villagers, they finished it ahead of schedule.

Standing in the backyard, she looked at the newly built rooms in satisfaction.

There were a total of 3 bathhouses, 3 outhouses, and 5 rooms built in the backyard. Besides that, there were also a total of 10 houses built on their farmland, one house every 21 hectares of land.

The houses were built using wood, but the design followed a modern dormitory style, with 4 beds and 1 living room. These rooms were built for the Ling Squad. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

As for the current rooms used by them, the bigger room would be for Xi Yi and Xi Si, while the smaller room would be for Xi Qi. It was not that she was partial, but Xi Qi’s room was small and could only be used by one person.

When she was done inspecting the buildings, it was time to settle the payment. Counting from the day they started working until now, it has been a total of 35 days.

The furniture shop’s owner agreed to 500 wen per day, so he earned a total of 17 taels of silver and 500 wen. As for the villagers, they were paid daily by Xi Yi, so she didn’t have to bother with their wages.

As for the Ling Squad, each of them received 10 tael of silver as a bonus on top of their monthly stipend. Each of them received 60 taels of silver. As for Xi Yi, she also received 60 taels of silver. Xi Si received 5 taels of silver, while Xi Qi received 50 wen to buy candies.

She spent a total of 1,282 taels of silver and 550 wen.

After she settled the wages, Yao Zhi gave some vegetables and apricots to the furniture shop’s owner as a thank-you gift. She saw them off before returning to her room.

Now that the rooms were ready, she needed to buy blankets, pillows, and other necessities. Opening her system’s shop, she bought 20 pillows, each costing 2 points.

Although the beds were kang beds, she still needed to buy blankets. She chose cotton blankets, costing 20 points each, and bought 20 blankets.

Then she also bought curtains for the windows. Each room had 2 windows, so she bought 10 curtains, costing 5 points each.

In the summer, there would be a lot of mosquitoes, so she bought 20 mosquito nets, each costing 20 points. Since oil lamps were only used by wealthy families, she opted for candles for her people.

She bought a total of 100 boxes of candles. Each box contained 15 candles, costing 1 point each.

Thinking about the slaves living in the farmland houses, she bought another 10 sets; each house received 1 set.

After she bought everything, the total came to 2,026 points.

When she was done shopping, she took out the items from her system’s storage before going to find Xi Yi in the backyard.

Seeing her coming, Xi Yi curtsied before asking, "Master, is there anything I can do for you?"

Yao Zhi nodded and said, "I bought some necessities for everyone. It’s in my room. Help me inform the Ling brothers."

"Each room gets 1 box of candles. The rest will be stored in the warehouse. If they use up the candles, they can ask for more from you. Each person gets 1 pillow, 1 blanket, and 1 mosquito net. As for the curtains, each room gets 2."

"The rest are for the workers staying in the farmland houses. Except for the curtains, where each house receives 2, the rest will be split evenly among them."

Xi Yi noted her instructions and nodded. "Understood."